


Retrouvaille

by Momos_weird_thoughts



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Culmets - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hugh came back to life, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tilly is a good friend, gays in space, space boos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 20:09:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Momos_weird_thoughts/pseuds/Momos_weird_thoughts
Summary: Hugh finally returned from death. While everyone is of course exremely happy, it was quite an adventure and an emotional strain, especially for Paul.Now the bridge crew comfortably sits together and talks.Hugh catches up with what happened while he was gone.





	Retrouvaille

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language, so please excuse what will hopefully only be minor grammar mistakes and typos :)

“Lieutenants? S-Sorry; Lieutenant Commanders?”, Tilly corrected herself. “Where are you heading?”

“Home.”, Hugh smiled. Paul was firmly holding onto his hand.

“Oh. Sure. I- We- Michael and Saru and Detmer and a-a few people from the bridge crew, we’re sitting together in common room 7, because… you know, after everything that happened we thought just spending some time together talking would be… good.”

Hugh gave Paul a look. He didn’t seem to be too enthusiastic about it but he would let Hugh decide.

“A cup of tea?”, he asked, caressing his hand with his thumb.

Paul nodded. “Sure.”, was all he could get out.

So they followed Tilly.

“We’re all so glad you’re back.”, she giggled. “We missed you.”

“Thank you..”, he said sincerely. “I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you on your promotion yet, ensign.”

“Thanks.”, she grinned proudly.

They entered the small common room. It was very quiet and had a calm but somewhat exhausted atmosphere. No wonder, after the past few days. Michael was sitting at a desk alone, so they decided to join her. 

“I’ll get some tea.” Hugh said. “Can I get you something too?”, he asked Tilly.

“Hot chocolate please.”, she said sitting down.

Paul was still standing at his side, holding his hand. The doctor gave him a look.  _ You have to let go of my hand now and sit down. I’ll be just a few meters away. _ Unhappily Paul let go of him and mechanically sat down at the couch. Hugh could feel the relief pouring from him when he returned from the replicator, sat down and held his hand again.

Paul was exhausted emotionally and physically. God knows how little he had eaten and slept during the stress of having lost Hugh. And even having his doctor back he didn’t sleep a lot. Last night he had mostly spent sobbing into Hugh’s chest. Partially out of relief, and partially because he was finally able to cry after his time of paralyzing pain. 

But Paul wasn’t the only one who needed support. As a friend and a doctor Hugh knew this was the right place to be right now, they all needed some healing time together.

“How are you?”, he asked the women across them.

“I’m okay.”, Tilly smiled.

“Good, just tired. Thank you.”, Michael said. “How are you?”, she asked them both.

“Also good. Glad to be back.” He squeezed Paul’s hand.

“I’m tired. And glad.” He swallowed and did his best to smile.

Hugh couldn’t help but let go of his hand to instead wrap his arm around him. He couldn’t have Paul close enough. It felt like he would melt away in his touch, so Hugh rubbed his upper arm to give him a little strength and smiled at him.

“When will you return to duty?”, Michael helped them out, pulling the attention away from emotional Paul.

“I don’t know yet.”, Hugh said. “It depends how urgently you need a doctor. But after being dead I think I deserve a little break. I think we all do. I bet you all overworked without a responsible adult who sends you to bed.”, he joked.

“We did.”, Tilly giggled. “I could sleep for three days straight. At least three days.”

They went on talking.

At some point Hugh felt Paul’s head on his shoulder. He looked at him to see if Paul was okay, but he just made himself comfortable, leaning against Hugh with closed eyes.

It was a clear sign it was getting too much for him. Michael and Tilly started talking with each other to give them space.

“Paul.”, Hugh whispered. “Do you wanna go home?”

“I’m okay.”, he mumbled. “I’m just tired. Finish your tea and then we can go.”

“Okay, thank you.”, he said softly and placed a kiss on his forehead.

This answer meant he was so exhausted he didn’t even care anymore. Physical affection in public was something both of them were picky about and Paul wouldn’t just cuddle onto Hugh like that. But a look around the room added another reason to exhaustion.

All of the people here were Paul’s friends. Most of them were Hugh’s friends too, but while he had been gone, they had grown closer in a way he couldn’t keep up with. Paul was comfortable enough around them, that in his exhausted state he had chosen to put his needs over professionalism, cause his friends would understand.

Paul fell asleep within minutes and all the conversations in the room became even more quiet to not wake him.

While Hugh kept talking to Tilly and Michael, he gently stroked Paul’s biceps, his neck and his hair and occasionally placed a gentle kiss on his hairline to soothe him when he frowned in his sleep.

“It’s good to see you two together again.”, Michael smiled softly.

“Yeah, you really complete each other. It felt so terribly wrong to see Lieutenant Commander Stamets without you.”, Tilly added.

“I think you can just call him Stamets.”, Hugh smiled. “Sometimes he’s a little terrible at expressing friendship, so I’m gonna do that for him now. I’m sure he’ll do it himself too once he had time to recover. You mean a lot to him Tilly.”

“What- I-I don’t know wh…”, she giggled, blushing.

“I heard you took great care of him while I was gone. He’s very thankful for that and I myself can’t ever thank you enough.”, he said.

“I tried my best. It was quite hard to get him to care for himself properly. N-Not to say he’s…!”

“He’s stubborn.”, Hugh smiled.

“He is.”, Tilly said turning red. “Look at all the weight he’s lost.”, she added sorely.

Yes, a painful reminder of Hugh's absence was Paul’s stomach, that was much flatter than he had remembered it. But the lack of appetite was already disappearing and Hugh was sure he would soon be back to his usual self, they all knew and loved.

“How was he doing while I was gone?”, Hugh asked. He was a little scared of a more detailed answer, cause even dying wasn’t comparable to Paul’s pain.

“He cried a little at the award ceremony.”, Michael said. “But except for that he stayed very composed towards us. Overly composed I’d say.”

“He became very quiet. Didn’t shout at anyone anymore and didn’t laugh.” Tilly bit her lip. Paul obviously meant a lot to her too. So Hugh extended his hand a little to take hers in silent solidarity.

“I saw him at the chapel a few times.”, Michael said.

“Paul?”, Hugh asked in disbelief. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Paul wasn’t religious. While he believed in something bigger, the interconnectedness of things, something humans just couldn’t understand, he didn’t believe in god or the concept of religion. Hugh on the other hand did believe in god, visited the chapel and prayed. It was weird to picture Paul trying to do the same.

“He really was desperate.”, Hugh said, pulling up the corners of his mouth unhappily.

“Yeah..”, Tilly said squeezing his hand a little. “But if you could see the difference! He’s so much calmer now that you’re back he’s focused and not as passive anymore.”

He could smile a little and placed a kiss in Paul’s hair, breathing in his smell. He appreciated every little thing in this second life, even more than he had done it in his first already.

“I’m glad I’m back.”, he said.

“So are we.”, Michael replied.

“What was it like?”, Tilly asked. She instantly turned red. “S-Sorry, I didn’t…”

“It’s okay, Tilly.”, Hugh smiled softly. “Paul asked the same and I… it’s hard to describe and I haven’t found the right words yet. But when I do I will write it down. Of course everyone is curious.”

“Are you settling back in well?”, Michael asked gently.

“Slowly but surely.”, he replied. “I just need some time I think. We need some time.” He let his jaw rest in Paul’s hair.

They sat in comfortable silence. It had to be a long while cause slowly the room emptied. Before leaving Saru stopped at their table to exchange a few sentences with Hugh, while letting his hand rest gently on Paul’s shoulder.

In the end it was just them four left. With their third cup of tea.

“Retrouvaille.”, Michael suddenly said, apparently thinking out loud.

“What?”, Tilly asked.

“Retrouvaille.”, she repeated giving her a short look, before returning her gaze to Hugh and Paul. “It’s french and literally translates to rediscovery. It is the reunion with a loved one after a long time of separation.”

Hugh smiled softly. “Very fitting.”

She smiled back and got up. “I’m going to bed.”

“Me too.”, Tilly said. She cleaned up Paul’s and Hugh’s cup up with her own.

“Thank you.”, Hugh said. “Good night.”

And so Hugh and Paul were left alone. The doctor had realized quite a while ago that he didn’t have the heart to wake up his partner. He deserved all the rest he could get. He’d rather sleep here than wake him up, he had made that decision quite a while ago already. His neck would hurt like hell in the morning, but it would be worth it. 

Hugh changed his position a little to wrap both arms around him. Paul sunk into his touch and was suddenly very small. The doctor buried his nose in his hair.

“I love you.”, he whispered, again seeking comfort in his smell. “I missed you. I missed your touch and your smell and your witty comments and god, everything. You, everything about you, Paul.”

The door opened again. Hugh looked up and there was Tilly. Wonderful empathic Tilly, with a cushion and a blanket and the security code for the room.

“Thank you so much, Tilly. I owe you.”, he sighed thankfully.

“No problem.”, she smiled. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Hugh looked at the closed door for a moment. “She’s darling. I’m glad she took care of you. Computer, lights to five percent and door locked.” He wrapped them in the blanket and let them sink down lying on the couch.

Paul let out a content sigh.

“Comfy?” They snuggled together. “We should talk. Tomorrow when you’re awake. It’s so much easier to talk about each other, but we should talk more to each other. I know you don’t like talking about those things cause they make you cry and you hate crying, but we’re gonna talk tomorrow and feel better afterwards, okay? Okay. Good night, Paul.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading!  
> If so, please consider leaving a comment :)


End file.
